The Bills’ defense gave everything it had, but when the offense and special teams gifted 17 of the 20 points scored by the Texans, it didn’t matter. Houston’s first two scores came on “drives” of 29 and 7 yards thanks to a fumbled punt return and a blocked punt, and then Nathan Peterman’s pick-six handed the victory to Houston with 1:23 left. The Bills were inept in those two phases, plus they committed 12 penalties for 104 yards, the defense contributing a few of those. It’s an indictment on the 3-3 Texans that they very nearly lost this game to a Buffalo team that did everything it could to lose it, and ultimately came through in that endeavor.

Pass Offense

It has become comical (or just sad, depending on your point of view) just how bad the Bills are at the most elemental things on offense. They do not have a functioning quarterback, they do not have receivers who can get open, and the game plans aren’t helping. It’s awfully tough to win under these circumstances. Josh Allen was once again terrible before leaving with an elbow injury and 84 yards passing. And then Peterman, after stunning us all with a go-ahead TD pass, returned to form with a game-losing pick six. Kelvin Benjamin made a 39-yard catch and took most of the rest of the day off. Zay Jones caught the TD from Peterman, but finished with three catches. The Bills had 129 net yards passing, so their ranking of dead last in the NFL will not improve.

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D-

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F

Run Offense

The Bills attempted 27 runs and totaled 100 yards, not bad, but not good enough for a team that can’t pass the ball. The only way the Bills can win is to move the ball in chunks on the ground, but they really haven’t done that all season. LeSean McCoy averaged 4.6 yards on his 16 carries, but Chris Ivory was hammered as he managed only 5 yards on six carries. Allen’s mad-dash scrambles accounted for 20 of the yards. The Texans have a strong front seven so it was a tough task for the Buffalo offensive line in a hostile and noisy environment, but in a game that was so winnable, a better running attack would have been useful.

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C-

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C

Pass Defense

The Bills had Deshaun Watson spooked all day. He never knew where the pressure was coming from, and he absorbed 12 QB hits, seven sacks, and he fumbled three times, though he was lucky his team managed to recover two including the one on Houston’s final offensive possession that resulted in a game-tying field goal. That could have been the game right there. In coverage, the Bills were tremendous. After incurring two early penalties, Tre’Davious White settled down and locked up DeAndre Hopkins. The NFL’s leading receiver caught only five passes for 63 yards, though one of those was a great TD reception despite tight coverage by White. Jordan Poyer had a pick, and the trio of Kyle Williams, Jerry Hughes and Lorenzo Alexander combined for five sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception. They deserved so much better.

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A-

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A

Run Defense

The Texans finished with just 74 yards on 24 attempts, a 3.1 average. By keeping the ground game in check, the Bills forced Houston into throw mode, and that’s when they unleashed their pass rush against a woefully unsteady offensive line that had no answers for the heat. Tremaine Edmunds led the Bills with nine tackles and Matt Milano had eight, and three of their tackles were for lost yardage. The Texans had only three first downs via the rush, as many as they had via Buffalo penalties.

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B+

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B

Special Teams

This was one of the worst showings we’ve ever seen from Buffalo’s kicking teams. Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled the opening kickoff but was lucky that Siran Neal recovered, then he fumbled a punt which he wasn’t so lucky on and it set up Houston’s only offensive touchdown. The punt protection was overwhelmed on one play, resulting in a blocked punt that set up a Houston field goal. Andre Holmes went offsides on a kickoff, which is hard to do now that you have to stand still until the ball is kicked. And Neal and Deon Lacey both had holding penalties. The lone positives were Corey Bojorquez did average 48.3 yards on five punts, and Stephen Hauschka made his two field goal attempts.

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D-

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F

Coaching

The defensive staff, led by Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier, saves this from being an F. The Bills were outstanding as they held the Texans to 219 yards, 3 of 13 on third down, and forced three turnovers. On offense, Brian Daboll has nothing to work with. Nothing. His game plans haven’t been effective, but I’m not sure how much of that blame lies with him. What else is he supposed to do with this offense given the players he has? As for Danny Crossman, he needs to take a serious look at what ails his kicking teams because they basically cost the Bills this game with those 10 free points they provided in the first half. As for McDermott, he foolishly wasted a timeout in the fourth quarter to save five meaningless yards, and his team committed 12 penalties, many of them pre-snap. Not a good look.